What Happened?
by Secret Girlfriend
Summary: Waking up on the beach, Rachel has no clue how she got there or what happened the night before. haha, that's always funny right? lot of laughs, a little mystery and a little romance. enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**If you are ever short on stories or have writers block, go to a place wehre you don't have internet connection for a week and you'll be just fine cuz i finished this entire story in that week- and it's awesome... well at least i tihk so. Enjoy! Review!**

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><p>Rachel woke up to a bird chirping outside her window. <em>Why can't nature just shut up?<em> She squeezed her eyes tighter shut, trying to get back to her interrupted dream.

Something didn't feel right though. Her bed felt, rocky. And was that a breeze? She didn't remember opening windows last night.

She shook off the feeling and rolled onto her other side. Rachel had to stifle a scream though when she felt herself bump into someone.

Wide awake now her eyes snapped opened. Yes, there was someone lying next to her, on the beach? Sitting up Rachel clutched the sand in her hands and stretched out her legs enough to put her toes in the water.

What the hell?

Turning her attention to whoever was next to her, her eyes widened and she had to bite down on her tongue to stop herself from screaming again. Finn?

Scrambling away from the still sleeping boy Rachel tried to remember, tried to remember how the hell this had happened. But she couldn't. The last thing she recalled was getting into her car last night to go… somewhere.

Making sure to slowly back away from Finn so he wouldn't wake up, Rachel knew she had to find someone who would explain to her what had happened last night. She was slightly scared to know though. Was she psychologically blocking something out? Or had she just gotten drunk last night?

She'd start with Santana. If Rachel had gone somewhere Finn would be, she would've brought Santana with her, whether she wanted to come or not. But if she was as clueless about last night as she was, she was screwed.

She got into her car, which Rachel had no idea how it had gotten to the little park the beach was at. She hadn't parked far from a tiny gazebo and small woods. Starting her car she drove slowly at first. Her head was pounding which led her to think that the drunk idea was plausible. Once at Santana's she was glad to see her blue mini cooper in the driveway.

Knocking on the door Rachel waited a couple minutes before knocking again. After a few more minutes she finally realized what time it was. It was late enough for both Lopez parents to be at work but way too early for Santana to be functioning properly.

Disappointed she walked back to the car. But Rachel saw something poking out above the window in Santana's car. Coming closer Rachel saw the top of Santana's head, but her hair wasn't sleek and shiny like usual. It was more like sex hair. Looking though, Rachel couldn't see anyone else in the car.

Oh well. Rachel didn't care if her friend got pissy for waking her up this early. She needed answers. She tapped on the window, but when that didn't work, she banged.

Santana's head gave a jerk forward and then she bolted up. Rachel could hear cursing through the glass but wasn't going to let Santana fall back asleep and ignore her.

Glad the car was unlocked she yanked the door open and watched the upper half of a disheveled Santana fall out. She was scowling up at Rachel, but she was unfazed. "Good morning sleepy head."

Santana scowled for another second before she relaxed and tiredness took over her face. "What the hell are you doing here at seven in the morning B?"

"I can ask you the same thing," Rachel shot back, pointing at the car. "Why the hell are you sleeping in your driveway?"

"Well, someone's wide awake." Santana rolled her eyes at Rachel but her face was confused as she registered where she was lying. Looking around at her position she said, "I honestly don't know why I'm currently upside down in my car. I think… I think I couldn't find my house key last night."

"Um…" Rachel said reaching into Santana's car and pulling the keys out of the ignition. "They're right here."

"But it was dark out," Santana whined.

Rolling her eyes Rachel led the Latina to the front door, unlocked it and led her to the kitchen. Sitting her down Rachel started making coffee.

While the coffee maker slowly dripped, Santana asked again, "Why are you here B?"

"Well," Rachel told her about how she woke up this morning. She couldn't tell if Santana was in shock or forcing herself not to laugh.

It was the latter.

Santana couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing when Rachel was done. "You woke up next to Finn? Finn Hudson? What did you do when you saw him this morning?"

"I ran. I ran away as fast as I could. I hope I didn't wake him up and if I did I hope he doesn't look for me. I really don't to face him right now." Rachel shuddered at the thought. What if they _had _done something? No, they didn't.

"You know you're going to have to talk to him sometime. This isn't something he's going to forget, and you have to own up to it eventually."

"Yeah, I know."

There was a silence for a moment, but then Santana started laughing again. "You woke up next to Finn. Finn Hudson? How the hell does that even work?"

Rachel replied, "That's why I'm here. I was wondering if you knew why I was at the beach in the first place." Laughing at her friend's laughter she poured the coffee.

Santana's laughter slowly died as she asked, "You don't remember what we did last night? Like, at all?"

When Rachel shook her head Santana started laughing again. "Wow, you must've been more smashed than I was. You don't remember what we did last night?"

Starting to get pissed Rachel snapped back, "No, I do _not_ remember what happened last night so it would really helpful if you would tell me instead of laughing at my situation."

"Okay okay. Chill chica. I know you're not used to waking up next to boys but jeez." Rachel rolled her eyes but let Santana continue. "Last night we had that mini concert that Schue set up for us at the park."

"That was last night?" Rachel almost choked on her coffee. "I was there right?"

"Yes, chill. You were like the first one there. And you stole the show in front of our pathetic little audience. You know, like twenty people over the age of fifty. But we all stayed after. Everyone was there, joking and laughing and blah blah blah. I don't really know what happened with everyone after Puck brought out the beer. I was kind of wasted, but not as bad as you apparently." Santana started laughing again.

"Would you shut up?" Rachel said, still a little peeved she wouldn't stop laughing at her. "You seriously don't remember anything else? Not who you were with or who I was with?"

Santana thought for a moment. "I think Sam and I fucked each other in the woods." She said it like it was no big deal.

"What?" This made Rachel forget about her problems for a second. "I thought you and Sam were done long ago?"

"Well yeah," Santana shrugged. "That doesn't mean he doesn't like to ride the Santana every now and then."

"You sound like Puck. Pushing that image out of my mind though, that would explain how you got home. You probably couldn't have driven without killing someone last night."

Santana rolled her eyes at the comment. "I would find Sam next. What I remember about last night probably won't explain why you woke up next to Finn."

She sang Finn's name, sticking her tongue out at Rachel. "Will you shut up?" Rachel gave her a small shove. "You know I'm not into Finn like that anymore. We're just friends."

"Oh you're more than friends," Santana simply stated. "You're just denying it."

"Yeah, maybe," Rachel said skeptically. "I'm going to Sam's."

"Yeah, I hope he can tell you why you slept with Finn last night."

"I didn't sleep with him!" Rachel yelled from the front door.

"Yes, you probably did," Santana called back, but Rachel had already slammed the door.


	2. Chapter 2

Ew! No no no no no no no no! Sleeping with Finn? That would be so wrong! Maybe once upon a time that was a possibility, but those feelings were long gone. Weren't they? She thought they were. She hoped they were.

Glancing at the time she hoped Sam would be up at 7:30 in the morning. Pulling into the motel parking lot she realized she was just on time. Sam was up all right. He had on shorts and a t-shirt, looking ready for a morning run. He paused though when he saw Rachel pull up, looking more confused than usual.

When she got out of the car he started laughing though. Why was everything so funny today? She found nothing funny about today. "Good morning Sam."

"Morning Berry," he said through his chuckles.

"Okay, I just spent half an hour listening to Santana laugh at me. I haven't even told you what happened yet! What's so funny?"

"Have you looked in a mirror today?" He said and started laughing harder when Rachel looked down to see she was covered in sand and wearing short shorts and a bikini top. She didn't need to look in a mirror to know how bad her hair probably looked. Why couldn't Santana have told her this?

"My current attire aside, I need to talk to you about something."

Sam stopped laughing when he heard her serious tone. "What's up?"

She sighed knowing that telling him exactly what was up would probably make him laugh again and just as much as Santana. "Were you at the glee thing last night?"

His confusion returned. "Yeah… we were all there. You don't remember what I told you last night? You said I made your day when I told you that you sang 'Get it Right' the best yet."

"You said that?" Rachel said taken aback by his kindness. Confusion returned when she said, "I sang 'Get it Right' last night?"

Sam arched an eyebrow. "You don't remember? All those old people came up to you after the show saying you were the best of all of us. You should've seen Quinn's face. She almost…" He trailed off when he saw Rachel's lost expression. "You don't remember that either?" He gave a small chuckle. Sarcastically he asked, "Do you remember anything from last night?"

When he saw her shake his head he had to stifle another laugh. Through an escaped one he gasped, "Holy shit." Still smiling he came over and leaned against her car with her. "Look, sorry I'm laughing. It's just… you, Rachel Berry, got so hammered that you can't remember any of yesterday!" He was actually hunched over form laughing so hard.

Rachel let him finish (which took a couple minutes) before she asked him, "What do you remember about last night?"

Standing up strait again he looked at her. "Why does it matter what happened? Probably nothing important went down."

"Well… I'm afraid something might have." She sighed thinking this might make Sam go into a fit of laughter all over again. "I woke up on the beach this morning and Finn was lying next to me."

To her surprise Sam's face fell. It took him a moment to compose himself enough to say, "What? No, no Rach. Really? You didn't…"

"I don't know," she said with a heavy sigh. "Like I said, everything after getting in my car last night is a blur. I was hoping you might know something that would've led to my… circumstances."

"Sorry Berry, I wasn't there after the show for very long. Santana got drunk and took me into the woods and we… yeah. After that I took her home at around midnight."

Rachel's face fell. "That's okay. I'm glad you brought Santana home or else someone might have died last night." She rolled her eyes at her stupid friend. "I can't believe you had sex with her when she that drunk."

Sam at least looked slightly ashamed. "Yeah, I'm not proud of that. But I'd had a few beers so I wasn't completely sober either."

"Good excuse."

Sam rolled his eyes. "I'm really sorry though that I don't know more about last night. I wish I could help."

"Well, do you know at all who I was with? Was I hitting on Finn or something?" She'd done that the last time she got drunk, before she kissed Blaine anyway.

"Actually, you weren't hitting on Finn…" Sam said rubbing the back of his neck. "You were actually…"

"I wasn't hitting on Kurt was I? I've done that kind of thing before."

His small laugh made her worry. "No, actually. When I was passing by the fire to take Santana to her car, you were kind of giving Puck a lap dance."

Rachel actually felt her jaw drop. If she didn't know it was impossible for it to hit the ground she would've sworn it had. Puck? Noo…

"Please tell me you're kidding and I was actually hitting Kurt," she asked desperately.

"Sorry Berry, but you were in those booty shorts and waving your swim suit top around your head."

"Oh crap," she said banging her head against the car.

"Yeah… I would've actually stuck around to watch if it wasn't for-"

"Go run Evans!"

He gave her a wide grin but he put his earbuds in. Turning back he yelled, "Good luck finding out what happened! Don't kill Puck!"

"I'll try not to!" Rachel said furiously. She hit her head on the car one more time and got in. Looking at her clock she hoped Puck would be happy to see her before eight in the morning.

Pulling into Puck's driveway Rachel was still mulling over what Sam had told her. First waking up to Finn and then finding out she gave _Noah Puckermen_ a lap dance? No more drinking for her… ever!

She didn't even need to knock on Puck's door because a second after she raised her fist to pound someone pushed the door open and almost hit her in the face. Looking around the frame she saw Brittany, bright and smiling without a care in the world. "Hi Rachel. You're going to have to shake him awake but it shouldn't be too hard. If nothing works just tickle his feet. It's his weak spot, but you know that already."

She gave a small giggle. To Rachel's surprise she gave her a kiss on the lips and then hopped down the front steps. Waving at her from her car Brittany backed out and rounded the street corner. Still standing with her mouth open Rachel could only think, _What the hell is wrong with our glee club?_

Erasing the images from her head she went inside. Puck was lying passed out on the couch, head and feet hanging off the side. "Noah?" she said quietly. He didn't stir. Skipping the shoving she tested out Brittany's advice about his feet. She barely even touched them and he twitched. Smiling for the first time that day she attacked them. It didn't take more than two seconds for his legs to jerk off the ground and for him to roll off the couch and land on the floor.

He didn't seem angry for being woken up. He actually seemed kind of excited when he said, "Brittany, I didn't know you'd go for a round four but… if it makes you happy get on your knees and I'll-"

"Please," Rachel quickly yelled, "stop before I vomit!"

Shaken from his momentary fantasy Puck rubbed his eyes and smiled when he saw Rachel standing there with a disgusted look on her face. "Oh, Berry, my little Jewish princess. If you're back to give me more of last night could you wait a little bit so I can wake up and actually enjoy it?"

"You seemed perfectly ready to enjoy shoving yourself into Brittany," Rachel said a little bitterly.

He shrugged. "That doesn't take effort for me anymore. But for a nice lap dance, you need to be awake to really enjoy it."

"You're disgusting."

"You love it."

"You wish."

"You loved it last night." He threw her off by giving her his playful smirk and wagging his eyebrows.

"Apparently, I did," Rachel said with a heavy sigh. "If only I could remember it."

Puck's smirk was wiped off his face when she said that. "You mean you're totally clueless about last night? Like, you don't remember singing or downing four beers in ten minutes or-"

"Giving you a lap dance. Yeah, it's all a blank." She plopped down on the couch, finally feeling exhausted. She had screwed up so bad last night, and she still didn't know how the worst of it had happened.

"It gets worse," Rachel mumbled. "I don't know how but I ended on the beach this morning next to Finn."

She waited for his laughter like Santana and Sam, but he surprised her. "Good, Finn's finally getting some action." Actually, that shouldn't have surprised her.

He plopped down next to her. His smirk was back in place. "I bet you gave him a real good ride. The more drunk you are the better you perform, even if you're a virgin."

"Ew!" Rachel quickly defended herself. "I don't know if that even happened. I don't even remember ripping my top off for you for god's sake! Like I said, it's all a blur, which is why I'm here. I'm hoping you know how that might've happened."

"My little princess, I'm sorry. The second you put your top back on I started making out with Brittany."

"Really? What is with everyone! I can't get an answer out of Sam or Santana because they were out fucking each other in the woods! I can't get you to pay attention to me unless I'm shoving my breasts in your face! Brittany just freaking kissed me ten minutes ago! What's next- Mike and Tina grinding by the fire?"

"No," Puck said interrupting her rant about how messed up the glee club was. "They were just sitting by the fire. Next is you and Finn screwing each other on the beach."

"We didn't do anything!" Rachel screamed. "I hope we didn't anyway."

Puck rolled his eyes. "Don't worry, I'm just trying to get you pissed, which is working." She hit him. "Finn's to nice to take advantage of you when you're drunk. He'll probably just have taken you away from the crowd so you'd stop embarrassing yourself."

"So I was with him after you?" Rachel said, thinking she might just a little closer to her answers.

"Ha, I have no idea babe. Like I said, someone yanked you off of me then Brittany started making out with me. I was too drunk to know what was going on after that anyway."

"Fuck," Rachel muttered. "Well, then I have no idea where to go next. I just need to know! I need to make sure I didn't make a complete ass out of myself in front of him."

"You made an ass out of yourself in front of everyone when you started humping my leg," Puck said with a laugh. "But why do you care how you looked in front of Finn? Why should it matter you?'

Rachel blushed. "I don't know why I care. It's not like he actually cares for me anymore, so I shouldn't care about him."

Puck looked at Rachel like she was being naïve, which she kind of was. She couldn't remember a thing. "Doesn't care for you? Babe, do you not remember New York? He freaking work his ass off that night he tried you win you back from Jesse. If he's given up on you already I don't know my best friend anymore."

"But what about Quinn? Isn't she still trying to get him back?"

"Oh, she's trying but she's failing epically. Her attempts were pathetic last night, even for her. Finn couldn't take his eyes off you no matter what."

"Especially when I lost my top," Rachel said slightly depressed.

"Babe, no one could take your eyes off you then."

"Shut up," Rachel said pushing herself off the couch.

Puck got up with her and walked her to her car. "I'm sorry, B. I really wish I could help you out a little more."

"Me too. But I guess I'll just have to go back to the beach and see if Finn's still there and ask him. It's going to be so awkward though. I really don't want to do it. Maybe if I had a friend..."

"Nice try midget! You're not dragging me into this. Besides, you shouldn't worry. You couldn't do anything to make Finn stop loving you. The real question here is do you still love him."

Rachel looked at Puck, knowing he was the only she could tell this to without being laughed at or yelled at. "Of course I do. I told Finn himself, you'll forgive your first love anything."

"Well, good luck."

"Thanks." Resigned to the worst Rachel got in her car and pulled out. Before Puck was completely out of sight though, she saw him waving his arms and running down the driveway to catch her. Rolling down her window she looked at him concerned. "What?"

He waved a slip of paper in front of her face. "I know who pulled you off me."


	3. Chapter 3

"What? How?" Rachel asked excitedly, yanking the piece of paper from his hand. Looking at it she recognized Kurt's feminine handwriting immediately. _You're lucky I pulled our diva off you or else Mercedes might've actually hit you into last year's Ralph Lauren spring line. Anyway, if you ever let Rachel do that again I will let Mercedes hit you._

"Oh Kurt, being mean in such an eloquent manner," Rachel said with a small smile. "Where did you find this?"

"It was on my windshield. They must've left before me and put it there," he said smiling broadly.

"If you ever tell anyone I said this I will kill you but I freaking love you right now!" She leaned out of the window to give him a half hug. "I'll call you tonight and tell you everything, okay? Thank you!" Rolling her window back up Rachel was nearly speeding out of the driveway and all the way to Mercedes' house. She knew the two of them would be together at the house with the least amount of supervision.

The ride was not enjoyable for Rachel though because her thoughts were consumed by what she had just admitted to Puck. Yes, she still loved Finn. She probably always would. Then the idea that he had actually been trying to help her last night sent her heart and stomach flying. Maybe it was time to give him another chance. Maybe…

Not even bothering to knock Rachel went through the garage and opened the side door. She heard running water in the bathroom and knew it would be Kurt doing his morning facial. Bursting through the door she came to a halt when she saw Blaine brushing his teeth with only a pair of basketball shorts on.

If only he wasn't gay…

"Oh no… you weren't there last night to, were you?" Rachel said with a moan.

Nodding his head Blaine spit out his mouth full of toothpaste. "Yeah I was there," he said wiping his mouth." Don't you remember? I was the only one listening to you under the age of thirty. I told you about West Side Story coming to town…" He slowly came to a stop as Rachel gave no sign of recalling any of this. "Oh crap, come on. Let's go find Kurt."

He grabbed her hand and pulled her to the living room. Every few seconds he looked back at her. He was eyeing her outfit, mainly her top. "You watched to, didn't you?"

He gave a small chuckle. "Rachel, you didn't give people much choice. You were the loudest of all of us."

"Isn't that how it usually is?" Rachel said, trying to make the entire situation seem funny. Which failed.

"Well, at least when you're normally talking you're talking sense. Last night, you were a little less censored than usual."

Rachel moaned. "Crap… how many people outside of New Directions saw the spectacle that was me?"

"You got lucky. The glee club was the only people still at the park after eleven thirty." He chuckled at her loud sigh of relief. "Kurt said this would happen. Of course, I don't remember you during your party because I was as drunk as you, but now I understand why he found that party so entertaining."

"I don't remember that party either."

"Here's a tip for the future, don't get drunk."

"Thanks, like I hadn't come to that conclusion on my own already."

In the living room Kurt and Mercedes were sitting up in a mass pile of blankets. Looking up Mercedes smiled. "Look who decided to get up this morning."

Turning Kurt smiled as well. "Aww, I was excited to come visit you Diva. We were going to come over at noon and bring you a care package." He held up a large bottle of aspirin, an ice pack and two bottles of water.

"I'm glad to know you guys care." Rachel plopped down next to Mercedes and nearly collapsed into her lap. She also took a bottle of water and the aspirin from Kurt. "Even if had been passed out until noon you guys wouldn't have found me at home."

Still not really paying attention to her Kurt laughed. "What, did you forget your way home?"

"If only," Rachel said still staring at the ceiling. "I passed out on the beach last night… with Finn."

Silence. Mercedes stopped painting her nails, Kurt paused in the middle of flipping a page in his magazine and Blaine just stared at her. "You didn't mention that earlier."

"Well, I didn't want to say it any more times than necessary. I've already been laughed at twice by Sam and Santana and nearly slapped Puck for saying I slept with him."

At Puck's name all three of them started laughing. Glaring at her best friends Rachel quickly defended herself. "I was drunk last night! I don't even remember why I started giving Noah a lap dance!"

Still laughing Mercedes told her, "You gave him a lap dance because he said 'Hey Berry, want to make out?' and you said 'Oh, I'll give you something better.' Then you took of your top off and started dancing. It was the funniest thing in the world!"

All three started laughing harder. "Noah must've thought it was enjoyable. When I woke him up this morning he got very excited that I was over."

"Well, it must've been enjoyable for you to if you went back to him a second time," Mercedes said through her laughter.

Rachel gave a big huff of disapproval. Five out of six had laughed at her today. She was more than kind of sick of it.

"You guys aren't even paying attention! I don't remember doing it! I just remember getting into my car yesterday afternoon! You didn't even seem to notice that I woke up this morning, on a beach, with FINN!"

"Oh honey, that's not surprising," Mercedes said patting her head. "He was watching you all night. He didn't even notice Quinn's attempts to get him to come home with her."

She sat up quickly. "So you think he slept with me last night?"

Mercedes nodded but Kurt and Blaine shook their heads. "Diva, Finn loves you too much to do that to you. He was probably just trying to protect you from yourself. Trust me, I know my brother."

Rachel thought about that for a moment, but didn't dwell on it. That wasn't the reason she was here at 8:30 in the morning. "Do you guys know what happened to me after you pulled me off of Noah? Thank you for leaving that note on his car by the way. I'm trying to trace how I ended up with Finn last night before I go talk to him. If I know most of what happened maybe I won't look as hammered as I was."

"Baby, everyone knows how hammered you were," Mercedes said with a smile. "But we all love you just the same."

"I think Puck loves you even more actually," Blaine said still laughing a little.

"That's beside the point," Kurt said. "After I pulled you off of Puck because I was afraid you would soon lose your shorts, Mercedes and I kept an eye on you. We let you sit by us and let you drink because we knew eventually you'd be so drunk you'd be incapable of doing anything. That lasted about an hour before you started getting a second wind. Unfortunately, we had curfew at 1:30 so we had to leave you with Tina and Mike."

"So now I have to go find them?" Rachel said, feeling even more exhausted.

"Yeah, sorry honey. Why don't you wait until later though? You look about ready to pass out."

"I would wait but I want to see if I can figure everything out before Finn wakes up. Besides, if it ends up that Tina and Mike laugh at me to, I'd rather get that over with."

Blaine chuckled again but with look from Rachel he stopped. "Hey, it could be worse. At least you didn't make out with a gay man this time."

"I don't know," Rachel sighed. "At least if that had happened I wouldn't be concerned if the guy was in love with me."

"Very true." Blaine flipped onto his back. "I wouldn't be concerned though if I was you. He loves you."

He said it so simply that Rachel couldn't help but believe him.

"Good luck sweetie," Mercedes said giving her diva a hug. "You'll get there eventually."

"I'm hoping I get there with Mike and Tina." She gave a heavy sigh, sick of driving around. "They weren't drunk were they?"

After being reassured that Tina had only been a little tipsy Rachel left. After another ten minute drive (she would be so grateful when this was over) she pulled into Mike's driveway. Knowing Tina and Mike she was hopeful that they would be up at nine o'clock.

When she knocked on the door she heard footsteps immediately and saw Tina open the door. Before she had been smiling but when she saw Rachel her eyes turned into slits and she slammed the door in her face.

"What the…" Rachel muttered as she heard more footsteps coming back. She braced herself but when she saw Mike open the door she allowed herself to breath.

"Sorry about Tina. She's still a little mad about last night."

Rachel felt her heart sink. How else had she embarrassed herself? "What did I do now?"

The same look of confusion crossed his face that everyone else had had that morning. "You don't remember? You don't remember her slapping you?"

"She slapped me?"

Unlike the rest of her friends, Mike looked concerned. "Come in." Rachel followed him into the kitchen where Tina was sitting with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Why did you let her in?" she snapped. Rachel was taken aback by her bitterness. Tina was supposed to be the understanding one! What the hell had she done?

"Hear her out babe," Mike said sitting down next to her.

"Hear me out on what? I told you Mike, I don't remember what I did. I don't even remember her slapping me!"

Tina's eyes looked up with a little softer expression on her face. "You don't? How could you not? The slap actually echoed."

Rachel shrugged, just as confused as Tina. "I'm really sorry for whatever I did."

She glanced at Mike, whose expression seemed to be saying 'let it go.' "Fine. It's okay. I guess after giving Puck a lap dance you kind of blacked out." She tried to say this with a small laugh.

"See, until about an hour ago I didn't even remember that. When I woke up this morning I didn't remember anything! Not singing, or getting drunk or the lap dance. Nothing."

Tina stared in shock. "How did you even wake up this morning? Your head must've been pounding!"

"Well," Rachel said, finally being able to laugh at what she was about to say, "the pain was kind of scared out of me when I woke up on the beach this morning next to Finn."

Both of the Asians looked in disbelief and horror at her. "Finn?" they said in unison.

"Yes, Finn. Finn Hudson, our slightly dumb and stupid dancer." She decided to continue talking seeing how both of them looked unable to say anything for the next couple minutes. She needed to get this over with. "Do you guys know what happened after Kurt, Mercedes and Blaine left?"

Mike suddenly looked down embarrassed and Tina's eyes turned into slits again. "Trust me, nothing could be worse than what I've already heard this morning so just tell me."

Mike decided to tell the story before Tina could say anything too mean. "When the others left it was just us, Puck, Brittany, Artie, Finn and Quinn. Quinn was talking to Finn trying to get him focused on her instead of you. You were just talking. You wouldn't shut up actually. I can't even remember half of what you said. It was about two in the morning. All of a sudden you jumped on my lap and started making out with me."

Rachel blushed. That would explain a lot. "I'm so sorry guys. I think I've apologized like, seven times today but I'm so sorry. I don't know what I was thinking, getting drunk again. Not after last time."

"It's okay," Mike said. "I got over it and I think," he glared at Tina, "she'll move on. Consider yourself lucky it was only that. If she slapped you for making out with me, imagine what she would've done if you tried giving me a lap dance."

Rachel rubbed her cheek. "I'm kind of glad I don't remember this. I don't think I could show my face in public again if I did."

Mike nodded in silent agreement. She didn't know if he was trying to help, but he wasn't. "So what happened after Tina slapped me?"

"She stormed off." Mike rolled his eyes. "I still say she was being over dramatic. It was obvious you were smashed."

"Thanks for reminding me Mike."

He raised his hands defensively. "Not my fault."

"Just don't ever let me drink again."

"Deal."

"So after you left, did you leave me with Finn?" she asked hopefully.

"No. He tried to take you but Quinn was still all over him, so we gave you to Artie."

"Oh come on!" Rachel yelled. "Now I need to go find Artie! I can't take this any longer. We're running out of people."

"I'm sure you'll get there soon," Mike said reassuringly.

As Rachel got up to leave Tina finally looked up. "I hope you figure this out," she said quietly.

"Thanks, me too."


	4. Chapter 4

Finn got to the park around 6:45. He was supposed to be there fifteen minutes ago but Kurt had been being weird. He had been yelling something about moisturizer?

Almost everyone was there already, except Puck who Finn expected to be getting enough beer to get them all wasted. But he had already made a promise to himself to stay sober tonight. After last time everything got way too out of control. And that time was planned.

He came up to the group of fellow glee members, but he only had eyes for Rachel. She was talking with Santana and Sam, smiling and laughing. He hadn't seen that in a while. Even just in a plain T-Shirt and basketball shorts, which everyone was wearing for their uniform, she looked perfect.

That sounded simple, but that's the kind of guy he was. Simple.

He was about to go join her when Quinn stepped in front of him. "Hey Finn." She had a big smile on her face. It was _too _big though. She had to be faking it.

"Oh, hey Quinn." He took a step back. Her smile was actually kind of creepy.

"How's your day going?" she said happily, like it meant nothing. Finn knew better though. He'd been getting these kinds of texts all summer from her. They all led to Quinn asking if he wanted to hang out. He didn't know what she was trying to do, but after dating her twice, he knew it couldn't be good.

"Just," he awkwardly side stepped around her, "fine." He tried walking towards Rachel but she stepped in front of him- again.

"So, what are you doing after the show?"

"Hanging out here, like everyone else." He was afraid to ask, "Why?"

"Well I was just thinking," she said coyly taking hold of his hand, "we could go out afterwards. You know, just catch a movie or do dinner."

Even Finn wasn't stupid enough to know she was trying to trap him. "I don't think that's a good idea Quinn. Thanks for the offer though." This time she dropped it and walked away to talk to Brittany, but not without giving him a pouty face first.

Finally walking over to Rachel he joined tuned-in the conversation when Santana was saying, "And then Finn walked out of the locker room and-"

"Hey guys," He said cutting her off before the story could any worse than he guessed it had already been.

"Hey Finn!" Rachel said brightly, still laughing. "Santana was just talking about the time you came out to football practice with your jersey on backwards and your cleats on the wrong feet."

Finn blushed but was glad Rachel was laughing at the story rather than at him. "And I haven't done that since then, have I?" he said confidently.

"Yeah," Sam cut in. "Now you just wear two left cleats."

Even Finn had to laugh at that.

Just then Mr. Schue came up behind them. "All right guys, it's a small crowd but just pretend you're at Nationals all over again."

"Yeah," Puck, who had just shown up, called from the back of the group, "just don't stop between songs to make out this time!"

Both Rachel and Finn blushed a deep red. Mr. Schue quickly yelled at Puck to shut up but then turned to Rachel and Finn. "Seriously, don't. These people don't need to see that."

They glanced at each other but quickly looked away. Out of the corner of his eye though, he caught her smiling.

They sang all there theme songs like "Don't Stop Believing" and "Somebody to Love." They did a couple of duets. Mercedes and Santana sang and Quinn and Finn did "I Don't Wanna Know." Her face wasn't right for the song this time though. She just kept smiling at him. She never stopped. It was still freaking him out.

He also almost punched Puck when he sang "Need You Now" with Rachel. But Mike and Tina got some laughs out of the audience (which consisted of less than thirty people).

The last four songs were their originals though. Rachel couldn't look him in the eye during "Pretending." He couldn't take his eyes off her though. She was beautiful. She was perfect. Why had he let her go?

It also took all of his self control not to kiss her again after "Pretending" and then again after "Get it Right." He did catch her glancing over at him every now and then while she sang and he remembered what she had said before Regionals. 'Listen carefully, because I mean every word of it.' Did she still mean it?

He also thought about it. Harder than he had thought all summer, maybe even the whole school year. He was right. He was right for her. She was right for him. It was just like that. Like he had said, he was a simple man.

He didn't want her to stop singing. Ever. He could sit and listen to her forever. Again, it was that simple.

But he was also afraid that Quinn had caught him constantly staring at Rachel. That scared him a little.

Afterwards they all stood on the stage for a little while. Some of the old people that had been watching came up told them they did a good job, but Rachel was getting most of the compliments. Finn couldn't blame them. She was amazing.

"Dude, look at Quinn," Sam whispered to him. Finn glanced down the line and Quinn looked ready to kill. When she saw Finn looking her though she put her smile back on her face and waved at him. Sam was even freaked out. "Creeeeper."

"That was really great guys," Mr. Schue told them when all the people were gone. "I'll see you guys when school starts! It's going to be a great year!" He couldn't have been gone for more than ten seconds before Puck jumped into the bed of his truck. Peeking in, Finn watched him whip back a blanket that was covering at least ten six packs of beer.

"We're going to party tonight!" Santana gave a little cheer and hopped into the back with him. She started handing out the cases and Finn waved his away. He was happy to see Rachel do the same.

"Come on B, just one!" Santana whined.

"Not after last time," she said with a small smile. She glanced at Blaine who had shown up for Kurt earlier and they laughed together.

It was only about nine and but not too many people were left at the park still. Santana was being as loud as she could. Puck was being Puck only at a louder volume and Quinn was slowly going off the deep end. Everyone else had only had one or two drinks.

Finn didn't pay attention to what was really going on. He just watched Rachel through the haze of smoke across the fire. She had taken off her shorts and T-Shirt to show off her bikini top and short shorts. It made it even more impossible for him to stop staring at her.

She was talking and laughing. That was it. Laughing about some joke he couldn't hear and smiling at whatever Brittany was saying. He wanted to be smiling with her. But every time he tried to get up and join her, Quinn pushed him back down into his chair.

Eventually Sam and Santana disappeared. Finn didn't want to think about what they were doing. He was actually giving all his effort into fending off Quinn. She was crawling all over him. Into his lap, on his back, at his feet. She kept telling Finn to that they should go to her place and that her mom was out of town.

He kept glancing at Rachel. He really hoped that she wasn't watching this. Or at least that she wouldn't remember it in the morning.

* * *

><p>Rachel watched Quinn as she tried to kiss Finn, again. This was getting pathetic. She just wanted to slap her across her face! Did she not remember New York? How Finn had made out with <em>her<em> in front of a thousand people?

Finally she grabbed the beer out of Santana's hand, who was leading Sam away from the group. She chugged down the last half of it. She heard Puck cheer and smiled. Maybe this was a better idea.

She grabbed another beer from the slowly dwindling pile by Puck. Then another, and another, and another. Slowly Quinn's whining became a quiet buzz in her ear and her own voice was overpowering it. This, this was better.

* * *

><p>Finn watched Rachel chug down those beers. This couldn't end well and he knew it.<p>

"Finn! Pay attention to me!" Quinn yelled in his ear.

"Quinn, shut up! I've only had one beer and you're giving me a headache!" He glanced at Rachel to make sure she hadn't heard him snap but his mouth dropped. She was over by Puck, and she was fucking humping him!

He almost threw up the one beer he had had. He wanted to look away, but he couldn't. The way she was shaking her ass and moving her body. It was hypnotizing. But then she flung her top off. He couldn't take it. He grabbed another beer and chugged it down in about fifteen seconds. There, that was better.

* * *

><p>Rachel tossed away her fifth bottle. She felt AMAZING. She felt wonderful. How could she not remember this feeling from her party? It was incredible.<p>

Somewhere far off she heard Puck's voice. "Yeah Berry! Why don't you come over and make out with Puck?"

Rachel hesitated. She may be feeling like the world was spinning a hundred times faster but she hadn't lost all senses. She glanced around and saw Quinn in Finn's lap, arms around his neck. She almost threw a bottle at her.

"I'll give you something better." _I'll give you something to stare at._

* * *

><p>Finn was woozy. He didn't know how Rachel had done it but chugging those four beers had not been a good idea. Quinn was off with Brittany and Puck doing some sort of three-way thing. He didn't watch though like he had Rachel. This was just gross.<p>

He went over and joined Kurt. "Are you going to be able to get your own ride bro?"

Kurt was laughing and said, "Yeah, I'm going to go over to Mercedes with-" He stopped mid-sentence when he looked over at his brother. "Finn, what happened?"

"I don't know," he said through a burp. "I couldn't watch Puck and Rachel with a sober conscience."

"Neither could we," Kurt said proudly. "That's why I finally pulled her off. Plus Mercedes was about knock him out."

"I was about to, too." Finn kind of fell backwards off the log he was sitting on. Man, he did not feel good. But the grass was nice.

He felt Kurt get up next to him. "I'll see you tomorrow. Don't drive home, you'll kill someone. Get a ride from Brittany or Mike. They're still sober."

"Thanks man," Finn said from his position on the ground. "Wait!" He sat up, too fast but he sat up. "Where's Rachel?"

"Don't worry, Mike and Tina have her."

He fell back again into the grass. As long as it wasn't Puck.

He didn't know if it was a minute or an hour later but all of a sudden Quinn pounced onto Finn's stomach. He almost lost it all over her but managed to hold back. "Where have you been Finny-boo-boo?"

"Oh god," he moaned. She starting tickling his stomach and kissing his face all over. Her aim was way off. He was too tired to fight this. _God, I hope Rachel's not watching._

Then he heard a loud _slap_.

* * *

><p>"And that's why I think Lord Tubbington looks like a blue monkey," Rachel said proudly. She didn't know what she was saying but everyone was laughing. She looked around at her friends. All their smiling faces. She was funnier when she was drunk. She should do this more often.<p>

Brittany was sitting in Puck's lap saying something about Lord Tubbington being a secret agent. Mike and Tina were just laughing, Tina almost falling over. Artie was sitting outside the circle, laughing but staring at Brittany. Santana, Sam, Kurt, Mercedes and Blaine had gone… somewhere. Hm, maybe she should've been paying more attention to that.

She looked to her right, where Quinn was on top of Finn, kissing any part of his body she could reach.

Jealousy shot through her body. Maybe it was just intensified by the alcohol but suddenly she wanted to throw Quinn off the edge of a cliff into an endless, bottomless ocean filled with man-eating sharks and blue monkeys with jagged, pointy rocks sticking out of the water.

With the envy coursing through her she jumped onto Mike's lap. His face was a mix between laughter and shock. She didn't know what she had planned to do but suddenly she was attacking his face. Anywhere she could kiss she would kiss it. She forced her mouth onto his and shoved her tongue in.

But then she was being pushed off of Mike onto the ground. Being pulled to her feet she saw Tina's livid face. Before she could move an inch, she felt her hand slap her across the face. She felt it burning, but when she glanced at Finn and Quinn she saw Finn trying to push her off him.

She started laughing. _Laughing_.

Vaguely she heard Tina yell at her, "You're insane! Let's go Mike!"

"Artie, watch her and make sure she doesn't drive home tonight."

"Wait," Finn shouted. Everyone turned to look at him but he was still under Quinn, who appeared to have a very strong grip on him. "I'll watch her."

Mike and Artie glanced at each other. "Don't worry, I got her." Mike then allowed Tina to tow him away to the car.

Brittany, who had stayed quiet the entire time, called over to Rachel from Puck's lap, "Hey B, want to make out with us?"

She glanced between them and Finn, who was still wrestling with Quinn. She couldn't tell if he was enjoying it or not. Just in case though, "Sure."

* * *

><p><em>Damn Quinn is strong. <em>After about five minutes of trying to get her off of him he finally won. Looking up he saw Artie, but no Rachel. "Where is she?"

Artie rolled his eyes but smiled. Following to where he was pointing, he saw Brittany who was in Puck's lap. Rachel was at his feet though. Was she… tickling Puck's feet? Their glee club was so messed up.

He stood up and was glad to find the shock of the slap and seeing Rachel in her current position had shocked most of the wooziness out of him. That slap had freaking echoed man. He wanted to check if Rachel's cheek was okay but was afraid to get involved in whatever… that- was.

Going over cautiously, he was almost there when suddenly someone tackled him around his ankles and made him fall forward. Considering one of the two people left was incapable of doing that, he knew whose face he would see when he turned around.

In contrast to how he had previously seen Quinn though, she wasn't smiling. She wasn't even pretending to. Her face was contorted with rage. "Stop stalking Rachel! Can't you see? She's not interested! She'd rather make out with the entire glee club before you!"

"She's not functioning normally right now!" he screamed back. He was sick of this. Couldn't Quinn see? _He_ wasn't interested!

"She's never functioning right!" Quinn was slowly wising in her fury. She turned on Rachel, who had stopped making out with her two friends. Even Puck and Brittany were watching this with rapt attention. "I'm not even sure she's human! She's loud, bossy, conceited. I don't know what you see in her!"

"You want to know what I see?" Finn shot back. It was time to put Quinn in her place. "I see a smart, beautiful girl who knows that her voice is amazing and isn't afraid to use it. She's caring and understanding, far more than you ever were to me. I'll admit it, I love her! I'll scream it! I LOVE RACHEL BERRY!"

"Well," Quinn said with an icy coldness that sent shivers down his spine. "If that's how you really feel I guess we've come to an understanding." She gave a dramatic huff and glared at Rachel before she turned back to Finn. "We're THROUGH!" Then she marched off.

* * *

><p>"I LOVE RACHEL BERRY!" Finn screamed. It was so loud it blew half the alcohol right out of Rachel. He loved her. He loved her. Did she love him to? Who was she kidding? She giggled. Of course she did.<p>

Slowly she got off Brittany while everyone watched Quinn storm away. She couldn't do it right. She snuck away though into the woods a little bit. She knew he would find her. What they would do after that, she didn't know. But he would find her.

* * *

><p>Finn rolled his eyes at Quinn's arrogance, ignorance and dramatics. She couldn't do a storm off as well as Rachel. "Brittany, are you at all capable of driving?"<p>

She nodded quickly and tried to untangle herself from Puck's lap. While she took care of that Finn turned to Artie. "Take Quinn home to, and make sure she doesn't kill anyone." He glanced pointedly at Brittany. She did _not _look sober.

"Okay, should I also watch Brittany's driving?" Artie said with a smile.

Finn actually smiled at that. "Thanks dude."

"No problem bro." He was about to wheel off when he turned back.

"Hey Finn?"

"Yeah?"

"Go get her." He winked then wheeled away.

With his blessing, Finn went off to find Rachel.


	5. Chapter 5

Rachel waited a moment after she climbed into her car. She had really fucked up last night. She didn't know how much more damage she could've done. But there couldn't be too much more though. She only had one more person to find from glee club. Well, other than Quinn. But by the sound of it, she hadn't been paying any attention to her last night. Only Finn. Just thinking about that made her want to pull the blonde's hair.

Artie's house was in between Puck's and Mike's, so after backtracking a short way she got out. Artie was out on his front porch, just sitting. He smiled at her though when she pulled up. At least she hadn't made him mad last night.

As she made her way to the porch he said, "It's about time you made it here."

She stopped, confused again. How did he know she had been coming? "What-"

"Puck texted me a while ago. He actually asked if I knew what else had happened after his lap dance. He remembers about as much as you. I filled him in, but it's your turn now."

Rachel smiled and collapsed into a chair. "Thank God. I was getting so tired of explaining this to everyone and listening to them laugh at me."

"Well, you don't need to watch me laugh at you. I got it all out when I read Puck's text." He grinned at her, and she couldn't help but grin back. "So where did Mike leave off in the story?"

"Apparently, I had made out with him and then Tina slapped me. Then they left me with you." Rachel looked up at him expectantly. "Wait, before you start," Rachel said putting her hands up, "did I do anything else I'm going to regret?"

Artie gave a slight nod of his head and Rachel moaned. "Okay, I'm ready for it. Go ahead."

"Wait, let me set the scene." Artie got all dramatic and started the story. "One night, one group of teens and lots of alcohol create an eventful evening for Rachel Berry. We've already seen her get drunk, take her top off and then make out with her friend's boyfriend. What will she do next?"

"Are you done?" Rachel said a little pissed, but laughing anyway.

He shrugged. "If you want me to, but I think it's more fun that way. But anyway, so Mike and Tina left and before I could even manage to get you to sit down you'd gone over to Brittany and Puck."

"Why, oh great story teller?" Rachel asked finally managing to relax a little.

"I like that title," he said with a grin. "You went over to make out with them."

"BOTH of them?" Rachel's voice actually went up an octave. When he nodded she slumped in her chair. "Well, that explains why Brittany kissed me this morning."

Artie chuckled. "Yeah, Puck wants you both to come over later and do it again so he can actually remember it."

"You can tell him it's not happening. So what did I do next?"

"Well, I don't know exactly but all of a sudden Finn was on the ground about two feet from you guys. Quinn had grabbed him around the ankles. After that she started screaming at Finn for ignoring her and trying to hit on you all night and then-"

Rachel jumped up at the information. "How come no one told me about that? Finn was hitting on me? Wait, why was I even making out with Puck and Brittany in the first place?"

"I said he was _trying_ to hit on you. Whenever he tried to Quinn would force him to pay attention her. She was so drunk though. I don't think she would've been so needy if she was sober. But after she yelled about you being bossy and loud and blah blah blah, Finn jumped up and defended you like she had been trying to kill you."

Her heart stopped. He'd been trying to talk to her all night. He'd defended her when Quinn tried to cut her down. He was amazing. "What exactly did he say?" she asked off-handedly.

She couldn't fool Artie though. His grin was too big, but he didn't call her out. "I remember him saying smart, a good voice, beautiful, I love her, blah blah blah."

Rachel blushed, but smiled at what Finn had said in her presence, even if she couldn't remember it. "He really said all that?"

"Everything except the blah blah blah, plus I think there was some other stuff about how great he thinks you are."

"What happened next?"

"Quinn ruined the moment by 'breaking up' with him and then did a semi decent storm off. She couldn't get put anger into the walk quite right though. Then again, she was drunk."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "At least she probably remembers last night. I can't believe I was so drunk I'm spacing out about it. I can't believe I was so drunk that I actually did that stuff!" She put her head in her hands.

"I don't think that's why you did you everything you did."

"You don't?" Rachel said snapping her head up. "Why then?"

"I was watching everyone all night. You weren't nearly as drunk as Quinn and Puck. You knew what you were doing at the time. The alcohol just made you act a little quickly, without thinking it through and stuff."

"But why did I do what I did?" Rachel was desperate. If there was any other explanation she would cling onto it like a lifeline.

"You love Finn." When Rachel looked confused by his explanation, he laughed and kept going. "See, right before each thing you did, the lap dance, attacking Mike, joining Puck and Brit, you glanced at Finn. Each time, Quinn was either trying to make out with him or was wrestling with him. You were fighting back. He didn't even realize it. You don't even realize it!"

"Why can't I remember it then if I wasn't drunk then?"

"I'm guessing you're psychologically blocking it out. It was all pretty traumatic."

Rachel laughed. Her first guess. Go figure. "But Quinn and Puck probably don't remember anything?"

He shook his head. "Not a whole lot."

This made Rachel feel loads better. Maybe she'd been a bit more flamboyant than Quinn, but she'd been doing the same thing. Then she realized there was still one part of the story missing. "How did I end up with Finn? I'm still in Brittany's lap at this point."

"Actually, I don't know where you ran off to. One second you were there and then when I turned around to make sure Brittany wasn't tripping over Puck, you were gone. Brittany was kind of sober so she drove Quinn home first and then me. I think she stayed at Puck's last night though. She said something about forgetting her house keys and wanting to have a sleepover."

"I don't think much sleeping occurred." Rachel rolled her eyes. "Noah said this morning that they would've been on round four."

"And they got home around four in the morning." Artie shook his head. "Our club is so messed up."

"That's all I've been thinking today." Rachel sat there for a minute. She was so tired. According to Artie she couldn't have gotten more than three hours of sleep last night. Well actually, this morning. She almost fell asleep in the chair when she remembered something Artie had told her. Finn had said he loved her. And Artie had also said she loved Finn. Artie said it. It must be true.

Bolting up from her chair she gave Artie a quick hug. "You're the best."

"Tell me something I don't know."

Laughing one last time Rachel ran to her car. Artie called after her though. "Rachel!"

"What?"

"Go get him."

She nodded and started her car. She just hoped she wasn't too late.

She hurtled out of her car when she got to the park. She didn't know what she was going to say to Finn when she found him, but she had to find him. Racing through the woods and to the other side, she found an empty beach. "Crap!" Rachel actually yelled it out loud, scaring away a few seagulls.

He couldn't have been gone too long. She could still make out his footprints in the sand. Running back through the woods she knew there couldn't be many other places he could be. Forcing herself to slow down though, she realized how little she wanted to keep driving around. If he wasn't home, she didn't want to keep searching all day. She pulled out her phone out from the center counsel of her car and texted Kurt.

**Is your brother home yet?**

**Yes yes he is. He's moping around in his room right now so hurry up.**

It didn't take her long to start her car and be zooming to Kurt's. Her mind was racing. What if he didn't remember last night either? What if he had just been drunk when he said all that stuff? But Artie had thought Finn loved her. It had to be true.

Pulling into the driveway her heart was pounding. It felt like it was about to come out her throat. But she forced herself to knock on the door and wait. It took a minute but someone finally yanked open the door. Her heart stopped when she saw Finn.

He looked just as shocked to see her as she was to see him (all though, she didn't really know what else she was supposed to expect) but he quickly pushed her out onto the front porch. Then, just like at Nationals, not planned, not thought out, not caring who saw, they kissed. It was (in Rachel's opinion) perfect. Spontaneous, romantic, filled with so much love it was cliché. His lips were as soft as she remembered and just as gentle.

She didn't want to pull away and by the look on Finn's face neither did he, but they needed to talk. It wasn't going to be easy but they needed to. She took his hand and they sat down on a bench swing under a tree. How many times had they sat there before, just talking together?

They both tried to speak at the same time. Rachel wanted Finn to go first but he made her. She giggled. "Listen, I know it looked like I abandoned you this morning, but I have a good explanation. I-"

"Rach," he said, taking both her hands, "don't worry about it. Sam, Puck and Artie already texted me. They told me everything."

Rachel was surprised and a little pissed. She'd been planning this out all day! "They told you that I can't remember anything about last night?"

"Yes."

"And that I went to EVERYONE today trying to figure out what happened?"

"Yup."

"And that I didn't abandon you when I woke up? I was just shocked and needed to find out everything?"

"Si."

She smiled up at him. "Well, I don't know if I should be mad at them or happy. I'm kind of sick of going through everything." She sighed and put her head on his shoulder, exhausted. She was glad this was over. Except… "What actually happened on the beach? After everyone had left?"

"Do you really want to know?" he asked, also sounding tired. She shook her head vigorously. He gave in. "After I sent Artie and all of them home and I had to find you somehow." He chuckled. "you were yelling pretty loud so I followed your voice and when I found you-"

"Is this going to be a long story?" Rachel asked suddenly.

Finn shrugged. "Kind of, I guess."

"Then I don't want to know right now. None of its important. All that matters is that we're finally here, together. Right now, I just want to sleep." She felt herself slowly falling asleep on his shoulder. "Is there anything else _you _need to know?"

Finn gently pulled her face up so her eyes met his. He was so cute. His goofy little grin. His soft hands and slightly messed up hair. "Do you love me?"

It felt nice to finally say it to his face."Finn Hudson, I never stopped loving you."

He grinned and kissed her forehead. "Good. I love you too. Now go to sleep."

Rachel didn't have to be told twice.

* * *

><p><strong>but guess who knows what happened? haha yea i do! ill post that... eventually :)<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

**So here's what happened AFTER everyone got over being drunk... yeah... enjoy! review!**

* * *

><p>"Hey Finn?" Artie called.<p>

"Yeah?"

"Go get her." He winked then wheeled away.

With his blessing, Finn went off to find Rachel.

Looking around the now abandoned fire he realized that she had managed to sneak away. Hoping she would come back once everyone was gone he started to pick up the empty bottles everyone had just tossed aside. How had Quinn, Puck and Rachel been the only ones so smashed? There had to be at least sixty empty bottles.

After five minutes of waiting he realized he would have to go searching for her. Checking his phone he saw that it was almost 3 AM. It had been a long night.

The only other place Rachel could've gone was into the woods. He started walking and called her name. "Rachel!" When he heard nothing, he yelled a little louder. "Rachel!"

"You're supposed to say Marco!" he heard a familiar voice yell from behind a tree somewhere.

"What was that Rachel? I couldn't hear you," Finn said smiling. She was so cute.

About twenty feet to his left Rachel stuck her head out from behind a large tree trunk. "We're playing Marco Polo. You're supposed to yell 'Marco' and I'll respond 'Polo.' Got it?"

"I got it." Giving him the thumbs up she disappeared behind her tree again. Sure, it was random, but like him, it was simple.

"Marco!" he called as he started walking towards the tree.

"Polo!" she responded, giggling a little.

He waited until he was right behind her. Wrapping his arms around her waist he whispered in her ear, "Marco."

She spun around. Her eyes were wide and innocent, like she had been caught stealing from the cookie jar when she was five years old. She seemed to be trying to form the word polo, but either her breath was caught in her throat or she was just too surprised. Either way, watching her lips move silently was killing Finn.

She never managed to say polo. She never knew it was coming. Finn leaned down and caught her still moving lips in a kiss. Her breath tasted like beer but he didn't care. He missed her lips so much.

Pulling away Rachel stared up at him, eyes sparkling, a small smile stretching across her face. It wasn't nearly as big as Quinn's had been earlier, but he liked it better. For one it wasn't creepy. Two, it was real. Three, it was hers.

He could've held her there in his arms forever, but Rachel had other ideas. "Your turn." She broke away from him and covered her eyes with her hands.

"Rach," he pulled her hands away from her face, "no more games. Let's just stay here together."

Her eyes made it look like she was considering it. "No." She put her hands over her eyes again.

"Come on Rach…"

"The faster you hide the faster I can find you." She peeked through her fingers, letting him see one pleading eye. Knowing there was no use in him arguing, he gave in and looked around for a hiding place. Through the trees he saw some sand. Walking towards that he saw a small beach and ran towards it. Sitting down he realized how exhausted he was.

"Marco!" he heard Rachel call through the trees.

"Polo!" he yelled back. Catching a glimpse of her bright yellow, barely-there shorts through the trees he stood up. The quicker she found him the better.

"Marco!" she called again.

"Polo!"

As she reached the edge of the woods and saw Finn, she broke into a long stride, nearly running at him. Expecting her to jump into her arms for a hug, he opened up his arms. He was dead wrong.

As she sprinted across the sand, she had her head bent forward. Finn realized what she was a doing a second before she tackled him to the ground.

She was like Quinn earlier, giggly and tickling him everywhere. Unlike with Quinn though, he laughed with her. He missed this. He missed her… He missed them.

When Rachel had finally calmed down she got off Finn and sat up. Sitting next to her he tentatively put his arm around her. He had just spilt his guts to her at the fire, but he had no idea what she was thinking right now. For all he knew, her brain wasn't even functioning.

Her skin was freezing. Taking off the sweatshirt he'd put on after the show he draped it around her shoulders. She didn't react immediately, but eventually she grabbed it and put her face into the inside. She inhaled deeply. "It smells just like you," she whispered.

"Yeah, plus a little of smoke from the fire."

"It suits you." She smiled up at him. "I miss you Finn."

His heart melted. Of course, he'd never tell anyone that, not even Rachel. But her words were exactly what he needed. They were healing. They were honest. "I miss you to Rach."

She leaned into him and looked out across the water. "What happened to us Finn? We work so well together, but we just… we just keep losing what we have together."

He put his head on top of hers. Her hair was so soft. "I think it's like Marco Polo. We keep losing each other, but in the end, we just have to call out. We always find each other," he said with a smile. Most people would've thought their relationship was complicated. But no, it was actually rather simple.

She looked up at him. "Let's never lose each other again." He nodded in agreement. Wiping away a few tears that had escaped Rachel's big brown eyes, he kissed her forehead.

"Never again." Rachel leaned up and kissed him. It was small and sweet, but suddenly, it was deeper. Rachel was basically in his lap. She broke the kiss for only a second to whip off his sweatshirt. Pushing him down into the sand she straddled him.

Her skin was so smooth. He ran his hands up and down her small sides, loving the way their lips were melding together. But then he felt her smooth, freezing hands move under his shirt.

Slowly Finn sat up, still kissing her, but trying to ease the pressure. He didn't want to, oh how he didn't want to stop this. But it wasn't right.

"Rachel, Rachel!" Her lips had moved down to his collarbone and it felt AMAZING. No, no. they couldn't do this. "Rachel," he finally mange to pull her hands out from under his shirt. She gave him in one last kiss on his collarbone, but slowly pulled away. "We can't do this. Not now."'

She looked sad, but he could tell she knew he was right. "I know," she sighed. She got out of his lap and readjusted so she was curled up into his side. He could hear the tiredness in her voice. "I don't deserve you Finn. You're too good for me."

"You do to deserve me. You deserve everything I can give you, but not tonight. Too much has already happened and I don't want to do anything you're not ready for."

She sighed heavily, eyes fluttering closed. "I love you Finn."

"I love you to." She didn't say anything, but there was nothing left to be said. It was that simple, they loved each other, and they would never lose each other again.

Rachel was already asleep so Finn gently lifter her off his shoulder and laid her down, tucking his sweatshirt under her head. Lying down next to her he faced her. She looked so relaxed, so calm. Stroking her hair he thought about everything that had happened in the last few hours. Sure, it had all been really messed up, but it had all led to Marco Polo, which had led them to here. And he didn't want to be anywhere else.

He scooted closer to Rachel, wrapping his arm around her waist. He was asleep the second he closed his eyes. He hoped they would always remember tonight.


End file.
